Stocks torn as miners rise, banks fall

The Australian market had lost value by mid afternoon, as losses from the big four banks and telecommunications stocks outweighed the revived mining and gold sector.

At 1.50pm AEST on Thursday, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was down 20.0 points, or 0.48 per cent, at 4,145.5 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index had dropped 19.7 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 4,195.0 points.

The market opened up by about 0.3 per cent higher but the effects of overnight falls offshore of around 0.5 per cent pulled it down as the day wore on.

The early optimism could be linked to better-than-expected economic news out of Japan showing its economy grew 1 per cent in the January-to-March quarter, Commonwealth Securities market analyst Steve Daghlian said. (Japan is Australia’s second-biggest trading partner.)

“Unfortunately the rise didn’t last very long,” Mr Daghlian told AAP. “The mining sector has been the worst performer in the last fortnight or so – down 10 per cent – but it is up slightly today and it is a tug of war between the miners and financials that are down.”

The worst-performing sector was telecommunications, down 1.1 per cent. The best performers were gold stocks, which had risen 1.1 per cent.

■ Dominating the gold sector were Regis Resources, up 10 per cent, and Newcrest Mining, up 0.8 per cent, as the gold price rallied after days of decline.

■ The metals and mining sector (up 0.7 per cent) was also in positive territory but had given up some early gains. The biggest company on the ASX, major miner BHP Billiton, hit a three-year low for its share price on Wednesday but had lifted by 0.9 per cent by mid afternoon, while Rio Tinto was down 0.2 per cent.

■ Westpac Bank and Commonwealth Bank both fell about 2 per cent. ANZ dropped 0.7 per cent and National Australia Bank retreated 0.5 per cent in afternoon trading.